In the past two days the internet has been buzzing over this video on the Kenyan vlogger’s use of the Kenyan Anthem. The video was discussing their views on some of the greatest national anthems while sampling them for their audience. To their surprise their video was flagged for a copyright infringement claim. Which is what…

It has been a while since I blogged. Perhaps it is because I have been under the impression that Kenyans understand Intellectual Property Law and the rights system that surrounds it. I have been approached with interesting remarks about how IP rights are so obvious and how there is no need for IP attorneys like…

It is no secret that the book publishing industry in Kenya has suffered huge losses to the cartels that pirate their books. Recently, the Kenya Copyright Board (KECOBO) seized over 10,000 books which are said to be over Kshs. 5.4 million. Tomorrow, the 31st of March 2017, KECOBO shall be destroying the books that were…

I had a very interesting afternoon today. I attended the side event being hosted by HEVA Fund in partnership with UNCTAD14, HIVOS, UNDP, USAID and FORUM SYD. Having been an active lawyer in the Kenyan creative economy for close to 6 years now, I am a little surprised that we are still tackling issues of…

“People recognise intellectual property the same way they recognise real estate. People understand what property is. But it’s a new kind of property, and so the understanding uses new control surfaces. It uses a new way of defining the property.”

We have all watched the video released by Elani #ElaniSpeaks a few days ago. There are a few issues I would love to blog about that came out in the video. However, for Part 1, I will start with the always controversial topic: Royalties and Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK). Anyone who follows the…

This has been an interesting year for Kenyan music. We have had some great hits and some serious misses. I have been meaning to tackle the issue of seeking consent since earlier in the year when DJ Pierra released the song Wape a re-arrangement of Queen of Taarab Bi. Malika. Now, here we are and…

Promoting sustainable creative entrepreneurship Craft Afrika is set to host the annual Afrika Handmade Symposium and Gallery. The two week event launches on 30 September with special guest Hon. Adan Mohamed, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Industry and Enterprise Development, and runs until 16 October 2015 at Alliance Francaise, Nairobi. A market development initiative of Craft Afrika, Afrika Handmade’s…

As the media is re-visiting the issue of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), I was humbled to be interviewed on CCTV Global Business. The contention around GMOs in Kenya has been highly focused on the impact they may have a consumer’s health that we are not talking about the potential it has on our economy. For…

I recently attended a session hosted by Google-Kenya which was targeting local artists. I was very lucky to attend because we all know how elusive and exclusive Google seminars are. And I was even more elated to attend the seminar because I felt there are so many mis-understood concepts on how social media can help…

Today marks the last day of voting. The Bloggers Association of Kenya (BAKE) will be holding it’s 4th Kenyan Bloggers Awards popularly known as BAKE Awards on the 2nd May 2015 at Nairobi’s Intercontinental Hotel. The initiative by the association is to boost and support local bloggers and their content. Blogging is increasingly becoming a…

Yesterday the 26th of April 2015 we marked the 15th World Intellectual Property Day all over the world. Two celebrations were held in Kenya; one in Nairobi and Mombasa on the 25th of April. Mombasa hosted this event for the first time and it was graciously hosted by the French college and cultural center Alliance…